Stem cells conditioned medium: a new approach to skin wound healing management

Stem cell biology has gained remarkable interest in recent years, driven by the hope of finding cures for numerous diseases including skin wound healing through transplantation medicine. Initially upon transplantation, these cells home to and differentiate within the injured tissue into specialised cells. Contrariwise, it now appears that only a small percentage of transplanted cells integrate and survive in host tissues. Thus, the foremost mechanism by which stem cells participate in tissue repair seems to be related to their trophic factors. Indeed, stem cells provide the microenvironment with a wide range of growth factors, cytokines and chemokines, which can broadly defined as the stem cells secretome. In in vitro condition, these molecules can be traced from the conditioned medium or spent media harvested from cultured cells. Conditioned medium now serves as a new treatment modality in regenerative medicine and has shown a successful outcome in some diseases. With the emergence of this approach, we described the possibility of using stem cells conditioned medium as a novel and promising alternative to skin wound healing treatment. Numerous pre-clinical data have shown the possibility and efficacy of this treatment. Despite this, significant challenges need to be addressed before translating this technology to the bedside.Article Link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cbin.10138/pd

Development of Instant Foods and Emergency-Survival Rations for Service Use

A variety of instant and ready-to-eat foods and emergency/survival rations were developed for use by the Services meeting logistic requirements. Items developed include quick-cooking dehydrated pulses and vegetables, curry mixes like the Avial mix and omelette mix, instant fruit flavoured milk and lassi beverage powders. soup cubes, fruit bars and intermediate moisture fruits and vegetables which could be used as such or as components of pack rations. Various types of compressed ready-to-eat bars were developed for use as combat rations by the Army and a soft, flavoured fudge bar as survival ration for the Navy. The various products remained acceptable for 6-12 months under ambient conditions when packed in flexible laminate pouches and were found acceptable in large scale user trials by the Services and several mountaineering and Antarctica expeditions

Characterization of the domain chaos convection state by the largest Lyapunov exponent

Using numerical integrations of the Boussinesq equations in rotating cylindrical domains with realistic boundary conditions, we have computed the value of the largest Lyapunov exponent lambda1 for a variety of aspect ratios and driving strengths. We study in particular the domain chaos state, which bifurcates supercritically from the conducting fluid state and involves extended propagating fronts as well as point defects. We compare our results with those from Egolf et al., [Nature 404, 733 (2000)], who suggested that the value of lambda1 for the spiral defect chaos state of a convecting fluid was determined primarily by bursts of instability arising from short-lived, spatially localized dislocation nucleation events. We also show that the quantity lambda1 is not intensive for aspect ratios Gamma over the range 20<Gamma<40 and that the scaling exponent of lambda1 near onset is consistent with the value predicted by the amplitude equation formalism

Salinity and temperature variations in the surface waters of the Arabian Sea off the Bombay and Saurashtra coasts

The waters of the Arabian Sea extending from the West-Coast of India down to 100 fathoms and lying between 180 and 240 N. latitude are of great importance from the point of view of the fishing industry, as they support some of the richest trawling grounds off the Indian Coast. The exploitation of these grounds in recent years has yielded much valuable information on the nature and extent of the fisheries of these grounds, but unfortunately, we have no information on the hydrological and other environmental conditions

Self‐focusing of laser light in the isotropic phase of a nematic liquid crystal

Self‐focusing of ruby laser light is studied as a function of sample length and temperature in the isotropic phase of nematic liquid‐crystal MBBA. The critical power for self‐focusing, 0.36 kW, observed near the phase transition temperature is a factor of 20 times less than that for CS2. The corresponding nonlinear index 4.4 × 10−10 esu is the largest value known so far for any material

Bismuth Chromate in Delay Compositions

Barium chromate is used as a secondary oxidiser in delay compositions which slows down the rate of the reaction. The composition containing barium chromate potassium perchlorate and sulphur along with the binder, gives inverse burning rates up to 4.5 s/cm. If barium chromate is substituted by bismuth chromate hydrate, the rate of reaction is slowed down further to 11.8 s/cm. Various compositions were prepared by changing the percentage of barium chromate and bismuth chromate. The energy of activation was determined to be 14.5 kcal/mole for the composition with 40 per cent bismuth chromate. The explosion temperature for a delay of 5 s was observed as 480 degree centigrade. These compositions were subjected to impact and friction sensitivity tests to determine the safety aspects. This paper presents the results of burning rate calorimetry, explosion temperature and the sensitivity data of some delay compositions containing bismuth chromate

Cross-Border Financing by the Industrial Sector Increases Competition in the Domestic Banking Sector

We predict that access to cross-border financing by the industrial sector reduces firms' reliance on domestic banks, thereby leading to lower rents for banks and greater competition in the domestic banking sector. We also predict that banks take on more risk to offset these lost rents and remain competitive. Using mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to identify variation in cross-border financing, we find evidence consistent with our hypotheses. Additional tests verify that the effects emanate from the demand side (i.e., firms not relying on banks) rather than the supply side (i.e., banks not willing to lend to firms). Overall, we document how competition from overseas financial markets influences the domestic banking sector

Conditional rifampicin sensitivity of a rif mutant of Escherichia coli: rifampicin induced changes in transcription specificity

Arif mutantof Escherichia coli that exhibits medium and temperature-dependent sensitivity to rifampicin is described. In the absence of rifampicin, this strain grows in minimal and rich media at 30&#176; C and 42&#176;C. In its presence it is viable in rich medium at both temperatures, but in minimal medium only at 30&#176;C. In minimal-rifampicin medium at the higher temperature, RNA synthesis is decreased. The addition of certain divalent salts (MgSO4, CaCl2, BaCl2) in excess, or chelators (EDTA, EGTA, o-phenanthrolein) greatly increase viability in minimal-rifampicin medium at 42&#176;C. Excess MgSO4 (10 mM) also increases the rate of RNA synthesis in the same medium. A model is proposed wherein therif mutation is suggested to cause a structural change in RNA polymerase that allows the binding of rifampicin and other ligands at 42&#176; C. Rifampicin-binding is suggested to alter the conformation of RNA polymerase, impairing its ability to express genes required for growth in minimal medium. Implicit in this view is the assumption that these genes are structurally different from those expressed in rich medium in respect of certain template features recognized by RNA polymerase